Among the classic tools for business and situation analysis, the SWOT work up is always a favorite.  But have we ever considered leveraging the analysis process and outcome to beef up our risk analysis and help us identify more project or operational risks (and their counterweight – opportunities)?  With some simple, practical applications, I believe we can do just that and bring additional value to our work.

RISKS IN STRENGTHS
While the immediate thought here would be to look for opportunities, or “positive risks”, we shouldn’t stop at those.  Any organization’s or team’s strengths can also be a source of risks.  For example if we are a highly creative group, we may have a tendency to overlook obvious solutions and introduce, albeit unintentionally, complexity that extends timelines and leads to other issues that could have been avoided with a simpler approach.

The challenge here?  Leverage your strengths to the greatest possible degree, but also look at the counters to each one and see if you have some risks lurking just behind all that great performance.

RISKS IN WEAKNESSES
OK it’s obvious that any organizational or team weakness can be a source of risk, but is there more to it than that simple observation?  The consultant’s classic answer – “it depends” – applies here.

Perhaps the weaknesses documented can actually be turned around into a positive.  For example, I attended a week long marketing course where the case study company produced three different types of the same product.  On one, they had a patent.  For the others, they were “also rans”.  Our team came up with the idea that they should price their weaker products to they made money and risk not selling them at all.  This “flip” of perspective didn’t ignore the weakness, but it did minimize the risk of trying to overcompensate (such as by cutting the price when you already can’t compete well).

RISKS IN OPPORTUNITIES
Opportunities present a rich area to mine for risk identification and management.  The positives are the focal point here, but as was the case with strengths, we don’t want to let our own ego or imagination get the better of us.

Are we focusing on the “right” opportunities for the project, or are we throwing so many out there that the focus gets fractured and puts all of them at risk?  If we limit our vision to things we can accomplish and excel at, we can minimize the risks we would face be spreading ourselves and our resources too thin.  Never hesitate to say, “Yes this is a great opportunity, but it would put too much of the core scope in jeopardy.  We’d be better off carving it out as its own project.”  You might face some resistance initially, but the reward of minimizing risk will often outweigh it.  Besides, you can and will go back to that opportunity as a stronger, more focused team.

RISKS IN THREATS
Since the SWOT analysis is a brainstorming exercise, there are no bad ideas offered or recorded – no matter how crazy or remote they sound.  Threat analysis provides the chance to hone your ability to grade risks.  Your resources to respond to risks are always limited, so choices need to be made and risk logs managed closely.  Use the opportunity to map threats on a graded scale (like a risk heat map) and then monitor them just like you would any other risk.  You may also find the threats provide a catalyst to leverage your strengths and/or pursue an opportunity more aggressively.

SWOT analysis is relatively simple, but still valuable as an exercise.  Use it and take the “risk approach” like we’ve discussed.  Perhaps you can find some new value in this time tested business tool.

Bio:

Mark Moore has held multiple professional positions in IT and business for nearly three decades serving organizations both small and large, public and private.  With over half that time as a project manager, he has successfully managed major initiatives spanning multiple years with a cost of over $3 Million and teams of over 250 people.  He has been a Project Management Professional since 2002, served as President of the PMI Western Michigan Chapter, and presented at multiple NCPMI Annual Events.  Mark holds a Masters of Education degree from Colorado State University with a concentration in Adult Education and Training.  He is an experienced writer, speaker and presenter on project management and team building topics.  Mark is the Principal Consultant for Broken Arrow Associates, LTD.  He and his family live in a rural area outside of Raleigh, North Carolina.

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